


Kiss Me Goodbye

by Leni



Series: Enter The Fairy [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-22 00:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9572849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin has decided that, ready or not, it is time to rescue Baelfire.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "I'm completely in love with you, you idiot."

Belle marched into the laboratory with the aplomb of a general about to review unruly troops. Rumpelstiltskin couldn't help but raise his head at her entrance, having long fallen off the habit of pretending to ignore her, but the chirpy nonsense he meant to distract her died on his lips at the sight of her.

Her eyes were wide in fear, set on a face pale as porcelain.

Then that panicked gaze focused on him, and her spine snapped straight as she narrowed her eyes into a dangerous line, belying any apparent fragility. "You!" she hissed, closing in on him with steps as long as her skirts allowed until she was hovering over his chair. "You... _You_!"

Rumpelstiltskin meant to twirl his hand into a mocking gesture, pointing at himself as if in doubt she addressed him at all.

Belle grabbed his wrist and kept it suspended in the air. "Don't. you. dare."

Her absolutely earnest expression made him crack a smile.

The Dark One. Manhandled by his maid.

Now that was a story no bard would ever think realistic enough to tell.

He gazed back at her, arching an eyebrow to where her hand wrapped around his sleeve. " _I_ _dare_?”

Her jaw set stubbornly, and instead of being warned away, his light admonition seemed to challenge her into leaning in and glaring at him. “You can’t just tell me that everything in the castle is mine if you don’t return in three days, and expect me to accept it!”

Rumpelstiltskin tilted his head as if in confusion. “I thought you’d want the library, at least. Was I wrong?”

"I already have the library!” Belle shouted. “What I want is to know why you wouldn’t come back!”

He lifted his shoulders into a careless shrug. “It’s a precaution, my dear. Nothing more.”

Instead of soothing her, his words made her bite her lower lip in distress. “You never take precautions, Rumple,” she whispered. “You drive me crazy with all your anecdotes about dragons and swords and all the things that would kill anyone but only amuse you when you encounter them. You stood and waited while Hood shot an arrow at you!"

"Were hairy archers all I had to face, I wouldn't have said a word." He paused. Deliberated. Then told her. "But I don't know enough about Neverland to be sure of the outcome."

"Neverland!"

He nodded.

Belle shook her head, letting go of his wrist only to sink down before him and grab onto his hands instead. "Surely you can wait until you've learned more about that horrible place. Tink and I are-"

"I have waited too long already," he interrupted her hastily, thinking of the decades - the centuries! - he had wasted in trying to break into a world his son hadn't seen in almost as long, "and we both know there's considerably less information about that island in your books than what your thankfully unwinged friend can tell us."

Belle pressed her lips together, obviously betrayed by the uselessness of the written word.

Rumpelstiltskin smiled, pulling onto her hands and wordlessly leading her to sit across his knees. He waited until she had settled, then wound his arms around her waist. "Tell me, dear - are you tremendously grieved by my departure?"

"You're gone often enough," she muttered.

"I am," he agreed, "and you deal wonderfully by yourself. So why the long face now?"

Belle glared at him.

Rumpelstiltskin pretended ignorance. "You can't be annoyed I'm not taking you along to an island full of wild, adolescent boys with too many weapons and no manners. Of course, I could take you to visit your home if you really miss watching everybody run around following the orders of a self-important fool..." The answering crinkle of her nose made him laugh. "Oh, I know. You're bothered by the possibility of my demise!"

Belle elbowed him. "Less and less with every moment," she told him archly. "Perhaps I should start counting my gold instead, you odious man?"

"Promise you'll cry over my grave first?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "You mean the grave some stranger will dig in Neverland? I thought you didn't want me there. Because if you mean that you'll make your way here just to die, I'll save you the trouble and kill you myself!"

That prompted a smirk. "You do have a point; I don't want you anywhere near Peter Pan," he said, ignoring her last words, "But I'm leaving you the fortune of ten kingdoms at least. Surely you could at least have a marker built with my name on it?"

Rumpelstiltskin was grinning as he spoke, but Belle had already tired of their game. If he really was leaving to rescue his child from the demon Tinkerbell had described, then Belle wanted him to know she'd be waiting for him. "I'd rather have you, Rumple."

"Would you really?" His chin came to rest on her shoulder, and she could feel him take a deep breath when she turned to kiss his forehead. "Strange girl," he whispered, "why can't you let me go without this fuss?"

How much easier would it be for him, that she pretended nonchalance? How much did he really want her silence, when he had all but set up this scene by warning her ahead? Or had it been a test, to see Belle's reaction?

The smartest man she'd ever met, but when it came to her feelings he needed to be taught patiently and constantly reminded less he convinced himself he had been wrong to trust her.

It was a wonder they'd come this far.

Belle twisted until they were face to face again, lifted her hands to hold onto his cheeks and leaned in until the tips of their noses brushed against each other. Rumpelstiltskin closed his eyes, already pursing his mouth for a kiss, but Belle spoke instead. "You know why."

His eyes cracked open. "I do?"

"You're not that much of a fool, Rumpelstiltskin."

"Oh, I'm not?" He pulled away, throwing his right arm up in a showy gesture. "Behold the Dark One, fresh out of options. I'm about to travel to a world where I cannot hold the advantage, my dear. Tell me how that is not the most idiotic of choices."

Belle thought he was being brave, but he would deny it if she said that out loud. "I still want you to come back. Always."

"But why?" he pressed, hands now at her hips, digging into her dress.

He looked at her as if her answer were the most important words in the world. As if she hadn't said them a thousand times already.

Belle decided to humor him. "Because I'm completely in love with you, you idiot." She smiled, softening the last words into an endearment. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

His eyes brightened, and Rumpelstiltskin gave the tiniest nod before he surged to his feet, carrying her along even as he crossed the room to the more comfortable couch on the other end, and kissed her in response.

 

The End  
04/02/17

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love!
> 
> *points at comment box*


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